


Eye to Eye

by staircaseballet (Space__Ace)



Category: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Angst but only a tiny bit, Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, albus is a stubborn little so and so, but with no real hurt??, it's solved in like 2 seconds, scorpius is concerned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-18 06:35:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17575736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Space__Ace/pseuds/staircaseballet
Summary: The year is not off to a good start for Scorpius Malfoy. He is growing increasingly concerned over his boyfriend's recurring headaches. Albus refuses to admit there is a problem and get help, and is most certainly hiding something from Scorpius. Scorpius is going to find out what is wrong and damn it he is going to fix it.





	Eye to Eye

They were only a month into sixth year and things were already wrong. Well, maybe not for Scorpius himself. Things were going really well actually- he was coping with all of his lessons and the new workload, he wasn’t too anxious about his exams yet. But he was worried. Not about school, again that was fine. He was worried about Albus.

Ever since they had returned to Hogwarts, something had been wrong with him. He had been struggling in lessons; more than usual. He was making small mistakes, even in potions, which was usually his best subject. Scorpius wasn’t so worried about that, he had faith in Albus that he would be able to turn things around, that he was just going through a rough patch. The start of a new school year was always tough, especially when you didn’t enjoy being there. No, he was more concerned about the frustration it seemed to cause, and of course, the headaches. The headaches didn’t help Albus’ mood either. Most days he would go to bed early, grumbling about his head and shutting out the world. He was even pushing Scorpius away.

He would always apologise in the morning of course squeezing his hands tightly in their moments alone and giving him the soppiest look imaginable, genuinely feeling guilty for being so crabby. Scorpius brushed it off the first few times. He understood what a terrible headache could do to you. But as the weeks went on, he couldn’t help but wonder if there was an underlying problem. Something had to be causing the headaches if they were going on this long. It was time to stop standing around and doing nothing more than giving Albus a sympathetic look as he buried himself under his duvet and figure out what the problem was. Even with the early bedtimes, Albus still seemed so tired all of the time. Scorpius even had to nudge him a few times during some of their more boring lessons to keep him awake, and that was a concern too.

However another problem Scorpius faced was that Albus was incredibly stubborn.

“Albus, I just think maybe you should ask Madam Pomfrey about problems concerning headaches,” Scorpius begged, following his boyfriend through the common room.

“There’s nothing wrong, Scorpius,” Albus insisted. “It’s just a few headaches, they go away quickly after I get some rest. I’m probably still just adjusting to being back here.”

“But they’re happening every day now,” Scorpius said.

Albus tutted and shook his head, turning away. Scorpius huffed, folding his arms over his chest. He didn’t like this. Not one bit. This year was supposed to be better. Things were finally looking up for the pair, they were happy. Hell, in his letters over the summer and the few times they were able to see each other, Albus hadn’t been as moody as he usually was. Scorpius liked to think maybe it was a result of him- of them. And now he was...

Oh.

“Albus you’re not… you’re not getting frustrated or stressed out because of me, are you?”

Albus finally stopped walking, just outside their dorm. He turned to look at the blond, brows furrowed in confusion and concern.

“No. No- of course not. Why would you think that?” Albus asked, stepping closer. Scorpius’ gaze fell to the floor.

“Well, you were happy over the summer holidays of course but… now we see each other every day. Maybe the… novelty has worn off. And absence makes the heart grow fonder- maybe now that we see each other so often you’re bored or… I’ve been too much. I don’t mean to be so annoying I just-”

Albus stepped even closer, gently grasping Scorpius’ arms, which were tucked close to his own chest. He studied his face. He was holding him with such delicacy, but Scorpius still didn’t look up at him. He could still imagine how his eyes looked as he spoke. Eyes slightly hooded and shadowed with affection, staring straight at him, not blinking. It was a look that was almost overwhelming for Scorpius to take in. Albus had no idea what he looked like when he did that, and Scorpius wasn’t sure he wanted him to. He was sure he would get embarrassed and stop looking at him like that if he knew just how soppy he looked, and Scorpius never wanted him to stop looking at him with such affection.

“I promise you that’s not it. I am much happier here with you every day than anywhere else.” Albus slid his hands up Scorpius’ arms to grasp his hands, giving them a gentle squeeze. Scorpius smiled sheepishly. For a moment, he forgot all about why he was chasing Albus. Unfortunately for Albus, he was quick to remember.

“Well, if it’s not me, then why are you getting headaches? If you’re stressed about schoolwork then we can always go over anything, spend more time revising. Oh, we could go straight to the library at the end of every day!” Scorpius suggested. Albus sighed, dropping his grip. His head rolled back on his shoulders and his eyes closed.

“No. The last thing I need is more school work.”

“Alright, maybe piling on more work when you’re stressed about it isn’t the best solution.” Scorpius nodded. He chewed his lip, trying to think of another solution. Albus interrupted his thoughts.

“It’s not because of school anyway. It’s… probably just because I’m still adjusting to being back here and getting up so early in the morning again. Not everyone is as excited to get up and sit in a stuffy class room for hours as you are,” Albus teased. Scorpius rolled his eyes.

“Oh come on, I’m not that enthusiastic!”

“Remember that next time you want to wake me up early.”

The blond huffed, pouting. His boyfriend chuckled. He took one of Scorpius’ hands again. They began walking. Albus started going on about a game of chess and how it had been too long since he last beat him. Scorpius fell for the taunt and began scoffing, telling him how he had been practicing over the summer and that Albus’ luck was about to run out. A silent challenge was issued, and the two entered their dorm to resolve the issue.

Many hours and several games later, after the sun was long set, Albus was stifling yawns. Scorpius glanced up from their game each time, but neither said anything. After a while, it was beginning to bother him.

“Maybe we should press pause here,” Scorpius suggested as Albus covered another yawn with the back of his hand.

“No, we’ll finish this one,” The brunette insisted. Scorpius shook his head.

“You look exhausted. I’m tired. Let’s just go to bed.”

Albus sighed, paused to stretch, then looked at their game once more, then nodded. “Alright. But I know you’re only doing this to give yourself time to think of a new strategy. If you’re doing what I think you’re doing here,” he gestured to the board. “You won’t last much longer anyway.”

Scorpius rolled his eyes, not falling for the taunt this time.

“We’ll see about that in the morning. Come on.” He stood up and held his hand out. Albus took it, allowing himself to be tugged to his feet. Now that Scorpius was stood up, he realised how tired he really felt. The idea of being wrapped up under his thick duvet was all he could focus on as he wandered over to his bed. He briefly considered forgoing changing and just slipping into bed in his day clothes, but decided against it. It didn’t take long to change anyway. Once he did get into bed, he barely managed to say goodnight to Albus before sleep pulled him into its gentle embrace.

He wasn’t sure what time it was when he woke up, but it was still dark. Still dark, apart from the dull light behind Albus’ bed curtain. Scorpius frowned. They tended not to draw the curtains facing each other anymore, not since the very beginning of first year, unless one was sick. But if Albus was sick, why did he have a light on? Scorpius ignored the urge to roll over and go back to sleep, instead slipping out of bed as quietly as he could. He shuffled carefully across the cold floor. He paused outside Albus bed curtain, listening intently. He didn’t want to overstep their unspoken boundaries and intrude, after all. But all he heard was the turn of a page. Satisfied, he slowly pulled the curtain back.

“What are you reading?”

Albus jumped a good foot off of his bed, slamming the book shut and a hand flying to his face. Scorpius blinked owlishly, but as he stared back, Scorpius knew that Albus knew that he had seen quite clearly. Scorpius frowned, lowering to kneel next to his bed.

“When did you get glasses?”

Albus looked away, quickly remove the item in question from his face.

“They’re- they aren’t-” Albus struggled to think of anything to say. He couldn’t say he didn’t have glasses. They were quite clearly still in his hand.

“I haven’t seen you wearing them at all?” Scorpius shook his head, confused. He paused. “Is this why you’ve been getting headaches- because you need glasses? Why haven’t you been wearing them?”

Albus kept his gaze averted, timidly fidgeting with the frames.

“Albus,” Scorpius sighed. “If you think you look silly or… or ‘geeky’ I assure you that no one will care. In fact I don’t think anyone will notice at all, they’re just glasses. A lot of people wear glasses!”

Albus sighed, burying his face in his hand. Scorpius frowned, and moved to sit on the edge of the other boy’s bed. He rest his hand on Albus’ back, very gently.

“I already look enough like him…” Albus mumbled, his voice slightly muffled by his hand.

It took Scorpius a moment. He raised his eyebrows, eyes widening in realisation. With his free hand, Scorpius clasped Albus’- the hand holding the glasses. He managed to carefully swap the frames into his hand as Albus looked up at him. He unfolded the arms an set them on Albus’ face with the utmost care. He didn’t want to damage them, or Albus. If he ruined the moment and the gesture by poking his boyfriend in the eye, he didn’t know how he would ever recover.

The glasses appeared black at first, but where the light caught the frames it was revealed they were dark green. Scorpius was sure it was no coincidence that the lenses were as square as could be. They made Albus’ eyes look a tad bigger, which was unusual, but not unappealing. He shook his head.

“No,” he whispered. “I don’t think you look like him at all.”

He didn’t dare say anything about how he thought things had been getting better between Harry and Albus. He had assumed so, since Albus hadn’t complained as much as he used to. But then again, he hadn’t said anything at all. Maybe things weren’t quite as pleasant as Scorpius had assumed. Of course not. It had to take a while to fix a relationship quite like theirs. Scorpius hadn’t even thought about it. His own relationship with his father had always been pretty good, and had only improved in the past few years. He hadn’t even considered…

Albus was staring at him almost blankly, if not for the small flicker of frustration in his eyes. Scorpius squeezed his hand. With his other, he brushed aside a stray strand of Albus’ unruly hair.

“I think you look much more handsome than him.”

Albus frowned, then his mouth twitched into a small smile. He laced his brown fingers with Scorpius’ pale ones.

“That’s a very odd way to make me feel better, suggesting you think my father is handsome at all, but thank you.”

Scorpius chuckled. “I do my best, but it is very late and I have only been awake for a grand total of about three minutes.”

Albus snorted, letting go of his hand to put his arm around him, pulling him into an awkward but sweet side-hug. “Thank you.” He rest his head on his shoulder. Scorpius’ lips curved into a smile and he let his head fall on top of Albus’. They sat like that for a few minutes. Maybe more. Scorpius felt himself beginning to drift off, and he suspected Albus was in a similar position. A realisation came to him.

“You should start wearing your glasses more. Your vision and your headaches are only going to get worse if you don’t.” The headaches, the mistakes, the frustration; this explained everything from the past month.

Albus made a noise somewhere between a huff and a laugh. Scorpius let a small laugh bubble out of him as well.

“And besides that, you really do look quite handsome in them."


End file.
